Mark Douglas has been speaking on the latest edition of the Everything is Black and White podcast, and he has been talking about all things relating to Newcastle United.
One of the topics that Douglas spent a bit of time on was transfers and, in particular, players that the Toon struggled to get rid of.
One such player was Matt Ritchie, who was potentially going to be part of the Callum Wilson deal, but, in the end, he stayed on Tyneside and has now suffered an injury that will keep him out until December.
It seems as if Bournemouth wanted to bring their former player back to the Vitality and Ritchie’s family are all down south, but maybe due to his wages, the Cherries backed out of the deal, and the 31-year-old is still a Newcastle player.
He said: “Matt Ritchie was another, but again he was on very big wages, he just signed his contract extension as well, but I think Bournemouth were really keen on him and his kids are all in the south as well so he could have gone.”
Would you have sold Ritchie in the transfer window?
No, he is an important squad player
Yes, had enough of him
TIF Thoughts…
Ritchie only just signed a contract extension with Newcastle in March, but it seems as if Bournemouth wanted to bring him back, and there was talk that he could have been part of the Wilson deal.
However, it looks like his wages maybe put the Cherries off, and even though the domestic transfer window is open, we can’t really see anyone coming in for Ritchie, considering he is now out injured until December.
However, when he is back fit, it will be interesting to see how much game time Ritchie gets considering he only played in one of the Toon’s first three Premier League games.
If he doesn’t get that much game time then could we see Ritchie leave St James’ Park?
It will be intriguing to see what happens when he returns from injury.